How and when will the 4DTV receiver get HDTV signals?
A – HDTV is a high resolution signal that uses over 1000 lines of vertical resolution to create a crystal clear, movie theater quality television picture. The first HDTV standard commercial transmission over satellite is expected in 1998. The 4DTV receiver uses a digital standard that is capable of receiving the HD signal along with the associated Dolby Digital audio and delivering this signal to the Multimedia Access Port (MMAP) output of the receiver (this makes sense since NextLevel Systems Inc., when it was known as General Instrument, was a pioneer of HDTV). This signal can then be decoded by a compatible television or intermediate translation device. The 4DTV system has an advantage delivering HD signals over DBS systems because the high bandwidth requirements of the signal are typically 4-5 times greater than typical compressed NTSC video.
